In various cities in the United States that experience snow, the snow must be plowed to remove it from the streets. In cities where the city owns various types of vehicles, it is desirable to optimize their use. In cities, such as New York City, where the city owns numerous refuse vehicles, it would be desirous to utilize these vehicles for other purposes. Accordingly, these cities have modified its refuse vehicles to include snow plows on the front of the vehicles in order to plow snow with the vehicles. Thus, the refuse vehicles serve a dual purpose and enable the city to optimize its vehicles while reducing costs.
However, when placing a snow plow on the front of the refuse vehicle, when the refuse vehicle storage bin is loaded, it causes a substantial amount of weight to be placed on the front axle of the refuse vehicle. With the amount of weight centered on the front axle of the vehicle, it is not uncommon for the refuse vehicle to exceed the legal loading limit on the front axle. Thus, due to the numerous bridges and roads in the city, the refuse vehicle is unable to travel on these particular roads. Thus, it would be desirable to have a mechanism that is able to signal the operator that the storage bin or container has a payload so that the plow cannot be lowered. Accordingly, the operator must empty the storage bin or container so that the snow plow can be lowered. The refuse vehicle can then be utilized to plow snow.
Accordingly, the present disclosure provides the art with a mechanism capable of prohibiting the snow plow device from being lowered to plow snow when the weight on the front axle would exceed legal limits. The present disclosure signals an operator to empty the storage bin or container in order to enable lowering of the plow for snow removal. The present disclosure provides a simple device maintained in the storage bin that prohibits lowering of the snow plow.